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Vampires
“The Vampiric sect of The Unpledged mark an ever-growing danger to the JPCU, as well as the rest of mankind.” -Dr. Jason van Hellsing, on the topic of vampirism. Vampires are one type of The Unpledged, and are quite common in specific areas of the globe. New Orleans is a particular hotspot, although the city tends to attracts paranormal abnormalities from all realms and kinds. The JPCU has a strict “no prisoners” policy in regards to Vampires, due to their ever-aggressive and hateful natures. How to Make a Vampire # A person must worship Hell itself, but not one specific demon or spirit. This will force all the power summoned through the sacrifices and rituals to fall to the person. The person will grow in power at an exponential rate, but at the same time be given the title of The Unpledged, and therefore an enemy to any and all other Satanists that are sworn under a specific demon or spirit. # Along with the previous, the person must be doing these deeds for some sinful purpose. They must be doing it voluntarily and out of selfish greed or hunger for more and more power. # The person will eventually reach a block in their power’s growth. This is a natural roadblock, and can only be ovveridden through the choice between types of Unpledged. In this case, the person in question will choose Vampire. Vampirism is chosen so often because the “immortality” it brings, as well as the superhuman abilities that come with it. This makes Vampires part of The Unpledged as well as part of the Immortals. # Over time, and with more and more sacrifices and rituals, the person will slowly transform into a Vampire worthy of the stories. Types of Vampires: # Man-Made: Although one may think it insane to want to create a vampire artificially, one must then doubt the insanity of the JPCU. The corporation has created vampires through genetic manipulation, but these specimens usually die if they do not receive a new body's worth of blood every day or so, and suffer from extreme variants of the normal vampiric weaknesses. To counter this, artificial vampires are also far stronger than their magical or "natural" counterparts. Cannot spread vampirism. # Normal: Using the methods described above, vampires can be made through the worship of Hell but no specific member of Hell. These vampires can spread vampirism to thralls, who are magically infused with the vampiric power after being preyed upon by a strong enough vampire. # Thralls: Usually feral, insane, dying, or a mix of the two, thralls are the unlucky victims of proper vampires that are, for one reason or another, kept from their natural deaths through the vampiric magic inserted into them through their creator's teeth. Thralls can retain their memories and mental ability, if the creator Vampire is strong enough and wills it. # Abominations: Those who seek the power of vampirism may be tricked by those who seem to be helping them, often in the case of a Vampire Lord towards their underlings. Those Vampires with a desire to increase their martial capabilities rely on purposefully sabotaging the transformations of weaker Vampires to allow for the creation of horrible monstrosities and evil eldritch horrors. These monsters can manifest in any number of forms, although the most common of which is usually either a giant, humanoid bat creature or a large Demon-looking horror. Mutations and other forms of such beings are very common, and often taken as pets by their stronger Vampiric overlords. These monsters are far stronger physically than their normal counterparts, but lack the intelligence or sentience to operate on their own, their Vampiric masters usually stealing what little intelligence remains to ensure complete loyalty. # True Vampires: When a Vampire Lord wishes to spread his lineage beyond simply turning others or attracting others to their cult, they may choose to develop a True Vampire. These beings are born with the Vampiric abilities of their sires, products of careful rituals and delicate procedures during pregnancy to ensure that the child is born with abilities to surpass almost everyone else in their particular noble house. True Vampires and the process to create them are shrouded in far more mystery than their normal counterparts, due to their rarity and sheer strength. The JPCU has been unable to capture or study a True Vampire, and their abilities are only rumors and legend. What is known is that the birth of a True Vampire comes with several telltale signs and very specific conditions, the exact details of which are kept a close secret amongst the paranormal community. Powers of a Vampire: # Unnatural Speed/Agility: Vampires are all far faster than normal humans, and the untrained human eye cannot keep up with their movements. # Superhuman Strength: Vampires can channel their Hell-infused energy to summon levels of brute strength beyond any human. Can lift any man with one arm, and snap his neck with that same hand. # Shadow-Step: Vampires are naturally at home amongst darkness, and blend in almost perfectly when submerged in a shadow's gloomy gaze. They become almost invisible when in darkness, even to beings that can normally see in the dark. # Night-Vision: Vampires can see perfectly, in color, regardless of light levels. The use of this function causes the Vampire's eyes to reflect any incoming light, making them appear to glow red, however their eyes do not actually produce their own light to create the glow. # Enhanced Sense of Smell: Vampires can smell a drop of blood from up to 10 kilometers away, and can sense the past presence of blood for up to several days after it has since dried up or been washed away. # Unnatural Charm/Hypnotism: It is not completely known whether or not Vampires gain their charm through life experience, the application of magical charm spells, or a mix of the two. What is known is that they can come off as very affable and trustworthy, if they are strong enough, even being known to take people by the hand and lead them to their deaths or enthrallment. # Blood Magic: Vampires, through life experience or their attunement with blood in general, are naturally deft at the bloodied magical arts. Most medium to advanced Vampires can manipulate the blood of others to simply leave their bodies through the pores- a very painful and fatal process, but one that gets the job done completely and fast. # Magic Intuition: The magical abilities like animal polymorphing and alchemy commonly associated with the original Vampires comes from the innate Vampiric talent for magic. Now magically-enhanced entities with an unlimited endurance (so long as blood is readily available), Vampires have a natural ability to use powerful magical abilities if properly trained. Given their immortality, Vampires have all the time in the world to master all forms of magic, making the oldest Vampires insanely dangerous wizards and sorcerers. # Unnatural Resilience: Vampires are far tougher than the normal human person, and, while normal bullets will kill them eventually, it is known to take upwards of 2 to 3 times more than it would to kill a human. # Supernatural Survivability: Even basic Vampires can survive the loss of their limbs, extreme blood loss, and damage to the brain and head that would kill a normal person as if they sustained a simple bruise or cut. Vampires feel little pain normally, and when in a Bloodlust feel none whatsoever. # Sleeplessness: Contrary to popular belief, Vampires do not need to sleep during the day, although many do simply out of boredom. Vampires can continue to remain conscious perpetually, so long as they have access to blood that can keep them going; the requirements for remaining conscious go up as time goes on, but are in theory manageable by most Vampires that live in a city. Vampires are still able to sleep, and can do so perpetually if they wish, but do not gain any rejuvenation from it. # No Need to Eat or Drink: Vampires do not require food or drink, although they can physically consume said substances normally. Vampires can only obtain sustenance and nutrients through the consumption of blood, an activity that brings them incredible pleasure and supposedly tastes better than any mundane food. Many older Vampires lose a taste for food and drink altogether as time goes on, losing the ability to taste mundane foods entirely, but may still do so out of habit. # Regeneration: Vampires, especially during or after feeding, can regenerate from basically any injury within 30 seconds or less. The longer it has been since feasting on blood the slower the regeneration, however. # Disease Immunity: Due to their hellish nature, Vampires are not affected by any natural illness. # Contaminant Immunity: Vampires are immune to all forms of poison due to their lack of reliance on normal digestion, and do not suffer from the effects of alcohol or drugs; blood is known to have an intoxicating effect, and can produce a powerful high in Vampires that consume enough of it at once, often caused by the draining of an entire person in one sitting. Powerful Vampires build up a resistance to this effect, while others become addicted like alcoholics or drug addicts and must seek far more blood than normal in order to survive and maintain homeostasis. # Semi-Immortality: Vampires do not age like normal humans, and are immune to the effects of time. If a Vampire does not feed regularly, the effects of their age will begin to show through, eventually leading to their death, but the consumption of blood will immediately reverse all previous conditions and return the person to their peak physical state. Weaknesses of Vampires: # Holy Bullets/Weapons: Any death-dealing weapon can bring a vampire down, but their effectiveness decreases exponentially once the vampire begins increasing in power. Weapons or bullets blessed by a priest or holy man will subdue and kill any vampire far faster than normal weaponry. # Holy Ground: Holy or sacred land will weaken and cause discomfort or pain to a vampire, but not to the extent that it would a Demon. Stronger vampires can hide this pain or discomfort for up to several hours, but even they eventually succumb to the ever-worsening burning pain. # Unwavering Faith: The absolute and incorruptible belief in any deity or higher power will allow a normal person to weaken the abilities of a vampire by mere proximity, and will allow said believer to turn mundane weapons and objects into deadly vampire-killing implements with a single touch or whisper of a part of a prayer. Priests can repulse or reveal Vampires with a glance, and powerful Champions or clerics can even set Vampires ablaze with a stare. # Sunlight: Even direct sunlight will not kill a vampire, despite the common myths. Sunlight weakens a vampire and shuts off their regeneration abilities, but vampires can survive in daylight. They are known to get sunburn very fast, but even this, too, can be fixed by a stronger vampire. Stronger vampires are even known to be able to change their complexions to fit that of the normal person, completely hiding their true natures. # Empyrean Steel: Anything made of the God-essence metal will bring down any unholy being in one strike, regardless of wound size or type. Culture: Vampires have been around for millennia, and as such they have developed a careful organization and cutlure around themselves, both to protect themselves and to obtain as much wealth and power as possible. Vampire society is based on a specialized ranking system, meant to denote the age, ability, and value of a particular Vampire. Progression through the ranks of the Vampiric culture is difficult and takes centuries of work, but it is possible. Ranks: # Vampire Kings: These Vampires often wield untold magical power, gifted to them via thousands of years of study. They are the strongest, wisest, and most connected Vampires in the blood-thirsting society, and make up the original generation of Vampires. Lead Vampire Houses and the minor Cults underneath them. # Vampire Lords: These entities usually rule over an area of the world, controlling Vampiric activity in that area, all under the gaze of their Kingly masters. They are incredibly powerful and usually lack a majority of the common Vampiric weaknesses. Commonly the heirs to their Kingly superiors, they are the direct descendants with a couple millennia under their belts. # Vampire Knights: The soldier class of Vampire who dedicate their lives to serving their Lords and Kings, assassinating the enemies of their house and carrying out the orders of their masters. They are physically tougher and very well trained in combat, usually being experts in firearms, offensive magic, and melee weapons. The more veteran Knights can lack some of the more glaring weaknesses of their lower-ranking associates. # Vampires: Normal, baseline monsters who usually serve a Cult, Lord, or King. They are emoloyed by their masters to conduct the mundane tasks around the estates and properties of their masters, handling the more boring elements. May not belong to a house, but may instead be an independent force. # Thrall: Slave worker who must rely on the energy of their masters or other Vampires to continue surviving, having been left in a state of living limbo thanks to their partial transformations. Looked down upon by even independent Vampires, and are those individuals who primarily deal with outsiders and those who are unaware about the paranormal. # Abominations: Monstrous pets without sentience are seen as property, even though they were once sentient human beings or other Vampires. Noble Houses Since the creation of Vampires all those millennia ago, Vampires have run and controlled a majority of the world from the shadows. This has led to the creation and continued survival of long-dead families and monarchies. These noble houses control areas of the globe, maintaining the Vampiric secret and manipulating the politics of the mortals they feed off of. Noble Houses often wield extreme amounts of political, social, and economic power in the areas they oversee, bribing mortal politicians and authorities to ignore their activities, possess access to specialized assassins to remove competitors, and more. Known Houses: # House Moldark The Veil Although Vampires have existed since the beginning of human religious beliefs, only in the most recent centuries have the higher-ranking members of Vampiric society decided that hiding their existence is a necessary component of their lives. With the Catholic Church on a perpetual witch hunt and crusade against the forces of Hell, it was declared that all Vampires are to maintain a degree of secrecy in their activities in order to ensure the safety of all Vampire society. Anyone who causes a breach of the Veil's security, or leads to the destruction of any Vampires by mortal hand as a result of their actions, is shunned, exiled from their Noble House, and considered a walking target for anyone and everyone who might have a chip on their shoulder. Cult of Sanguinity This cult is responsible for the managing of the Vampiric faiths, as well as being responsible for attracting new mortal members to the ranks of the Vampiric undead. The Cult of Sanguinity relies on subterfuge, deceit, manipulation, bribery, and magic to continue expanding its influence and width across the globe, its center of power residing in Transylvania. The cult worships Hell undivided, and is a semi-independent organization from the noble houses. Priests of the cult are not bound by the normal Vampiric societal rules, being exceptions to the ancient traditions, and wield the authority to strike down heretical Vampires who begin worshipping individual Demonic entities or betray the strict beliefs of the Vampires.